The 50th anniversary of the landmark 1964 surgeon general’s report on Smoking and Health marks a time for national recognition, resolve, and reaffirmation. It is important to recognize the persons who courageously completed the report under intense scrutiny while guarding against potential industry interference. It is also important to honor the extraordinary scientific advances in tobacco control in the years since the release of the report—advances that have led to countless lives saved. Ultimately, however, this anniversary must reaffirm the fundamental resolve to end the tobacco epidemic once and for all, and doing so should not take another 50 years.